I happened upon this recipe today and decided to try it on a whim. I was raised on the yucky crisco/powdered sugar stuff and always wondered how my favorite bakery achieved their buttercream (that I could eat by the cupful! - not really, ha ha). THIS IS IT!! Yummy delicate buttery flavor, smooth as silk texture. I followed the directions to a T and it worked! Thanks so much!

I have to say I was a bit nervous trying this recipe. What if it didn't come together?! I didn't have a back up! I was constantly taking the temp of the eggs and when they reached 157 I stopped, I was scared they would cook. However I followed the recipe to the letter but forgot the salt on accident. I am SO glad that you included pictures because at the end it really looks like a sloppy mess! I told myself that it was ok and I had been warned. I added the rest of the butter and TA-DA!! It was perfect!! It tasted like ICE CREAM!! Oh man I got TONS of complements on it! I made a cake for the same crowd using confectioners sugar and butter but they all said it was too sweet and they were right, I hate using that AND it hardens like paste when it gets cold. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! I am now a MASTER at American butter cream and I will NEVER go back to the paste like sugary confectioners stuff again!!

I tried this recipee, and I think I didn't bring it up to a high enough temperature. I don't have an "Instant read" thermometer, and only saw that once I started ... took it off the heat, trying to avoid scrambled eggs- then followed the rest, and now I have a very tasty butter soup.

My son's third birthday is in two days and I think I'll have to chuck this out and try again with something based on icing sugar - call this a failed attempt.

sounds like the sugar did not thoroughly dissolve - that happens as you mix the sugar and eggs together - the water in the eggs is what dissolves the sugar. my guess is you may have gone through that stage a bit too fast.

you could try "superfine" sugar - it has finer crystals that dissolve more readily.

If I were to have guessed, I would have thought that perhaps that the butter didn't fully integrate with the other liquids and while very smooth at room temperature, micro fine butter pieces congealed to make a grainy texture once the frosting was refrigerated. Perhaps not, so I will try again with the going more slowly with the superfine sugar.

On egg safety, if you can use eggs from a local farm that has free range chickens, safe eggs are a sure thing!, we tried to make Salmonella laced eggs from our own birds and could not, but the factory eggs could produce Salmonella under the right conditions. FYI Cage Free IS NOT the same as free range.[/u]

I'm an amateur baker and tried this recipe just for fun....let me tell you...with a little patience this recipe is a hit! I've made it a few times (once I even refrigerated it and brought it back to room temp) and I have never have had a problem with it! I never see anyone take the buttercream off. Everyone I know has enjoyed it!

I took Baking at NAIT two years ago. I have to do a wedding cake on next week and I tried your buttercream. It turned out so well I could have wept! And all my friends were shocked I pulled off French(!) buttercream with no thermometer, no stand mixer, and a roommate trying to ruin me! Thanks so much!

i tried to make the buttercream as posted but stupidly i added the butter to early and it melted... 8| then i tried to fix it and added more stuff and now it's not got a very buttery taste and is struggling to go stiff. can i still save it?

My first try at any kind of frosting in my new mixer, and it didn't go so well...

I used the 5 quart mixing bowl and I combined everything but the butter as instructed. I whisked constantly over a pot of simmering water until the egg mixture hit 160, it took at least 5 minutes, but I wasn't really watching the clock, as the instructions didn't give a time to shoot for, so I can't be sure.

Everything seemed okay, I put the bowl in my mixer and beat with the paddle beater on high five minutes. I think this is where my trouble started...while my egg mixture did get light yellow, it got more bubbly than fluffy, and when I slowed the beater and started adding butter after the five minutes was up, the butter never combined with the egg mixture - I just ended up with whipped butter coated in sweet pastuerized egg goo.

It tasted alright, but looked quite awful - where did I go wrong? Any tips for next time?